Ellie's Last Act
by CheerfulChemist
Summary: Castle's former lover, Ellie Monroe dies right next to Castle, taping a talk show. Lanie determines Ellie has been murdered and Castle, Kate, Ryan and Espo work the case, while Kate still copes with jealousy. This takes place right after 705. Of course I own nothing. Sigh! M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

Ellie's Last Act

Chapter 1

Richard Castle shifted uncomfortably but kept a smile on his face while Jimmy Dimmel played the video promoting Raging Heat. Despite the fact that book sales had soared since the video went viral, Richard was still not pleased with appearing as a clumsy dork. A gentle stroke on his hand brought a new source of unease. Ellie Monroe, there to promote her latest slasher film, was apparently trying to give him some support. They had slept together years before when she was attempting to be cast as Nikki in the ill-fated movie of Naked Heat. She read him well, too well. He moved his hand away. If Kate had seen that - well just in case, it wouldn't hurt to pick up his fiancée's favorite strawberry shake on the way home from the taping. It seemed that Ellie hadn't gotten the message as her head came to rest on his shoulder. As he pulled away, she tumbled to the floor.

"Wow, Rick," Dimmel joked, suspecting a set-up between Ellie and Castle. "You've got women passing out over you."

Castle crouched by Ellie, noting the grayish cast of her skin. "Jimmy," he said soberly, feeling for a pulse, "she's not acting."

"She was murdered," Lanie declared, as Castle and Beckett looked at Ellie's body on the autopsy table.

"How?" Beckett asked.

"Poisoned," Lanie explained. "She was taking a blood thinner for a clot in her leg. There were a lot of things she would've had to avoid, chief among them aspirin. She was loaded with it."

"Couldn't that have been an accident?" Castle asked.

"You don't think I thought about that, Castle?" Lanie asked with a scathing look. "I spoke to her doctor. Ellie was very aware of the risks and very faithful about getting her blood tested. She would have known better. Besides, CSU found her thermos of herbal tea backstage. It was loaded with aspirin."

"Oh, that stuff!" Castle recalled. "She carried it everywhere. She thought it made her skin softer or something. She did have..."

"Castle!" Beckett interjected sharply.

"Anyway," Castle continued, wincing under Beckett's angry glare, "she had me taste it once. I needed three sticks of gum to get the taste out of my mouth. It would have covered up anything."

"Lanie," how long after drinking the tea would she have died?" Beckett asked.

"Hard to tell," Lanie answered. "She had a lot of blood in her stomach, but it could have been a slow bleed that got worse over time with more sips of tea or it could have been faster. It might have taken several hours."

"We're going to have to trace her movements throughout the day," Beckett decided and see who had access to that thermos who had a motive to kill Ellie Monroe."

Beckett, Castle, Ryan, and Esposito were clustered around the murder board. "Ellie was one busy lady," Ryan noted. "I got her schedule off her phone. She had three different meetings and a lunch before she went to the Dimmel taping."

"Let me guess," Beckett speculated acidly, "the meetings were all at her hotel."

"Well, one was," Ryan replied. "One of the others was at another hotel and the third one was at a director's office.

"Okay, You guys talk to anyone at Dimmel who might have had access to the thermos or knows who did," Beckett ordered. "Castle and I will take her meetings and lunch date."

Ellie's first meeting of the day was with Von Durbridge, a director of bloody independent films. His films generally garnered scathing reviews but were regularly picked up by distributors because they sold well to the younger demographic and always made money in video sales. Von had what was in essence a small repertory company of actors he featured regularly in his films, of which Ellie was a part.

"Yeah, I saw Ellie yesterday morning," he admitted in answer to a question from Beckett. "She had some new - techniques she wanted to show me." Castle coughed as Beckett smirked.

"Did she have a thermos with her?" Beckett asked.

"Oh yeah, the tea," Von recalled. "She had it. She always had it. I don't know how she drank that stuff!" he exclaimed with a gagging noise.

"I know, right?" Castle put in.

"Did she drink any of it while she was with you?" Beckett inquired.

"Um, no," Von replied. "Actually we both had an energy drink."

"I'll bet you did," Castle thought to himself.

"So the two of you," Beckett questioned, "any troubles, any arguments?"

"No," Von replied, "actually I was going to give her a part in my next movie, _Mistress of the Chamber_."

"And did she seem well?" Beckett asked, almost suppressing a snicker.

"She was great," Von declared, oblivious to Beckett's reaction. "I'm going to miss her."

"Kate," Castle said as he slid into the his seat beside her in her car, "we need to talk about this."

"Talk about what, Castle?" she asked stiffly.

"Kate, you know about what!" he retorted. "About my sleeping with Ellie Monroe."

"Castle, that happened long before you and I were together," Kate argued. "It didn't make a difference then and it shouldn't make a difference now."

"Kate, that's crap and you know it," Castle insisted. "You and I weren't sleeping together then, but that didn't mean that you didn't care. You went out of your way to point out that it was couch casting. You wouldn't admit it, but you were jealous then and you're jealous now."

"So what's your point, Castle? Kate demanded.

"My point is there was no reason for you to be jealous then. I would have been with you if you'd given me half a chance," Castle continued. "And just as an aside, she was fun, but she couldn't light a candle to you anyway. In her case, I don't think practice - lots of practice - made perfect. There is certainly no reason for you to be jealous now." Castle reached over to caress her face. "You're the only woman I want, Kate."

Kate looked at Castle, the beginnings of a smile lighting her face. She glanced at her father's watch. "Castle, you know our next interview said he was going to be in a meeting until at least an hour from now."

"Why Detective Beckett, whatever will we do with the time?" Castle teased, returning her smile.

Kate reached over, drawing her fingertips down his thigh. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

Even at the speed Kate drove, the ride to the loft seemed interminable. Castle and Kate took the stairs rather than wait for the elevator. Martha was sitting in the living room reading a script as they pushed through the door, but with the quickest "Hello, Mother," Castle kept going and Kate with him.

Martha shook her head. "Now you see them, now you don't." As she heard the office and bedroom doors slam shut, she took her script up to her room and with a knowing but wistful look, shut her own door.


	2. Chapter 2

Ellie's Last Act

Chapter 2

Kate stirred unwillingly in Castle's arms. "We have to go," she murmured.

Castle groaned softly in protest but loosened his embrace. "Where are we going?" he asked as they retrieved clothing that lay in a trail from the door.

"Standish Hotel," Kate answered, reattaching the ankle holster for her back-up weapon.

Castle watched her with appreciation. "You have no idea how hot you look when you do that. Given the reputation of the Standish, we could always get a room for another go round once we've finished with - whom are we talking to?"

Kate rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. "Castle, we just..."

"But we're making up for lost time," Castle protested. "A lot of lost time."

"Work first, Castle," Kate insisted. "Then we can think about - other things. We're talking to Ellie's second meeting, Maury Harshaw."

They found Maury Harshaw in the hotel bar, where he appeared to have been for some time. He was tall and thin with deep set dark eyes and overlong unkempt hair. His hand shook slightly around his drink and his voice quavered slightly as he spoke. "Ellie was so sweet. I have a new production company. I was building an organization around her. No one could do a death scene like she did." Maury stopped abruptly, realizing what he had said. "I meant as an actor," he added quickly. "She was a wonderful actor."

"We're very sorry for your loss, Mr. Harshaw," Beckett comforted, almost out of habit. "When you saw Ellie yesterday morning, was she upset about anything?"

Harshaw shook his head. "No, she was enthusiastic. We were going over a treatment and she really liked it. She didn't die until almost the end of the movie. She had a great love scene too. We were going over the details of that."

Castle covered his mouth as he gave a little cough. "Sorry," he apologized, "I had something stuck in my throat. Speaking of which, did she have a thermos with her?"

Harshaw paled as if about to retch. "Oh, that stuff! Yeah, she had it. She drank a little of it before she left."

"Did she seem ill at all?" Beckett asked.

Harshaw closed his eyes, thinking. "No, she was her up self. She always made me feel up too."

Castle jammed his mouth closed to avoid comment, while Beckett smiled edgily. "Well thank you, Mr. Harshaw. Will you be here if we have anymore questions?"

"I'll be here all week," Harshaw assured them. "I have several interviews to conduct."

Castle shuddered as he and Beckett left the bar. "Still want to get a room here, Castle?" Kate asked.

"No," Castled replied, running his hands over his sleeves as if to wipe off some imaginary slime. "I'm struggling to get some imagery out of my head. Where do we go next?"

"You should love this, Castle" Kate told. "We're going to see 'Mr. Kill Off My Characters' himself, Marky Joiner."

"Wow," Castle enthused, "I watched _Slaying the Impaler_ three times."

"I know," Kate commented dryly.

"Ellie's never been in any of his movies though," Castle noted. "I wonder if she was trying to move up."

"If you call that moving up," Kate replied skeptically.

"Hey!" Castle pointed out, "the man's a cult icon. The crowd he gathers at comic cons is unreal. Besides he's been pegged to direct a major super hero franchise. If Ellie could have gotten herself into that, she would have been 'A' list, or at least 'B+.'"

Castle and Beckett were shown into Joiner's office by a female assistant with long hair, ripped jeans and sandals. Joiner sat behind a desk scratching out notes longhand. He was only five foot nine and at least twenty pounds overweight, but his presence filled the room. He scratched absently at a red beard.

"Mr. Joiner," Beckett began, showing her badge, "we need to ask you about your meeting with Ellie Monroe yesterday."

"What about it?" Joiner asked distractedly. "Did she file some kind of complaint or something?"

"Mr. Joiner," Beckett informed him. "Ellie Monroe is dead. She's been murdered."

Joiner looked up, clearly shocked. "I had no idea. I've been working on a script since yesterday afternoon. I have no idea what happened in the outside world. How can I help you?"

"You can start by telling me why she was here," Beckett instructed.

Joiner pulled at his shirt and squirmed in his chair. "She wanted a role in my next movie."

"And?" Beckett prompted.

Joiner's face became redder than his beard. "She wanted to..."

"Trade favors?" Castle filled in.

Joiner drew a relieved breath. "Yes. I know some roles are cast that way, but it's not my style. I might not have been kind. I got rid of her as fast as I could."

"Bad choice of words," Castle pointed out.

"What I meant," Joiner stammered, "was that I asked her as politely as possible to leave. My wife was bringing me a burrito for lunch anyway and I didn't need that kind of trouble."

"I understand," Castle empathized, looking pointedly at Kate.

Kate cleared her throat. "Mr. Joiner, when Ellie Monroe was here, did she have a thermos?"

"I really don't know," Joiner answered. "She had a tote bag. It might have been in there."

"Did she seem ill in any way?" Beckett questioned.

Joiner shook his head. "If she was, I didn't notice. I just wanted to get her out of here."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Joiner," Beckett said, extending her card. "If you think of anything, give me a call."

"I will," Joiner promised, already going back to the notes he had been making when they came in.

"Interesting man," Kate commented, as she and Castle walked to her car.

"Yeah," Castle agreed. "Next time I'm at Novacon, I'm going to be sure to catch his panel. I think I'll dress as an evil priest."

"Well that would be a break from your space cowboy," Kate observed, "although, she added, extending a hand in the direction of his well filled back pocket, there are definite drawbacks to priests."

Castle laughed, pulling her close enough to kiss the top of her head, "You do have a point. Hey, are you hungry?

"Yeah," Beckett realized, "why?"

"I was thinking that we could multi-task," Castle explained, "grab some lunch where Ellie had hers, maybe scope the place out before we start asking questions."

"That's actually a good idea, Castle," Kate acknowledged as her stomach rumbled.

"Yeah, well," Castle responded. "I think fast when I'm starving.

The restaurant where Ellie had her meeting appeared designed for trysts. Each table seemed to be in its own dark corner and the booths had extra high walls. Castle would not have been surprised to find out there were rooms in the back with beds or couches. He pulled Kate against him, extended a hundred dollar bill and asked the host for the most private place they had. His guess had been pretty close. He and Kate were led to a back room with a low table and a floor strewn with plump cushions. There was a small curtained area near the door for the stowing of clothing and other private items. Requests could be made and staff summoned by the use of a touchscreen. The door locked, automatically displaying a do not disturb sign. Gazing around the room with anticipation, Castle thanked the host and handed him a second hundred.

Kate began swiping her finger over the touchscreen. "What are you looking for?" Castle asked.

Kate stretched like a cat. "As long as we're here, I thought I'd see if they have any oysters.

Castle wiggled his eyebrows and grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

Ellie's Last Act

Chapter 3

Kate did not find oysters on the menu, perhaps, Castle speculated considering the other amenities, because the establishment considered them unnecessary. She did find platters of tempting finger food, designed to be placed in willing mouths. "These look like just your thing, Castle," she quipped. "You do get off on..."

"Feeding you," he interrupted.

The platters were a long time coming and Castle was beginning to grumble about the service when a flustered server finally showed up. "I'm so sorry for the wait," he apologized. "We're short staffed. The girl who served that poor woman who died on the Dimmel show called in sick today. She was just too overwrought to come in." The server stared at Castle. "Oh my God! You're Richard Castle. You're the one who was sitting right next to her."

Beckett took the opportunity to flash her badge. "Actually, we're looking into Miss Monroe's death. I'd like to ask her server some questions. Do you have an address for her?"

"You'd have to talk to the manager about that," the man responded. "Shall I call him?"

Castle could see the romantic mood leaving Kate, like an overheated mist. "Tell you what, we'll call you when we're ready," he interjected quickly.

The server nodded and backed out of the room, locking it behind him. "Castle!" Kate began to protest.

"Kate," Castle returned, "We were going to eat anyway and you're definitely getting a little grumpy. Here," Castle urged, picking up a miniature pancake from of the platters and offering it to her. "We can finish these and then we'll see what we want to do. Hmmm?" Kate reluctantly sampled his offering and Castle held out another savory bite.

Kate's face softened to a smile. "Okay," she agreed, softly nipping the ends of Castle's fingers as she accepted the second treat. They took turns popping bite sized versions of meals into each others' mouths before turning to the desserts. Kate closed her eyes as she bit into a large ripe strawberry, reveling in the mixture of tart and sweet flavors caressing her tongue. A droplet of juice appeared at the corner of her mouth and Castle couldn't resist leaning in to kiss it away.

They came together, re-tasting a cavalcade of flavors. Drawing Kate closer, Castle drank more deeply, questing for the earthy tang that was uniquely Kate. Leaving her mouth, he found his way down the line of her jaw to the softness of her neck, worshiping her skin with his lips. Kate arched upward, plunging her hands beneath his shirt and whispering his name.

Carefully bringing his hands to support her back, Castle laid Kate against a stack of pillows. He freed her from the cloth barriers between them, as she freed him in turn. Pillows flew as they sought more and more of each other, ignoring the hardness of the floor beneath them.

The wellspring inside Kate became a raging river, overflowing its banks, as their bodies joined. Platters rattled on the surface of the table, but they knew only each other, driving ever harder toward a completion that left them spent and struggling for breath in each others' arms.

After finger combing his own hair, Castle took the brush Kate had taken from her bag and ran it through hers, gently smoothing the recently formed tangles. "You're good at that," Kate commented.

"You learn a few things raising a daughter," Castle explained. "I know how to do a French braid too."

"Then you've got one on me," Kate admitted. "I've never quite worked that one out."

"I'll make you one any time," Castle offered. "Ready to pick up the case now?"

Kate glanced at her father's watch. "I think we'd better."

This time, the server came quickly in response to Beckett's summons and called the manager.

* * *

><p>Ellie's server, Varla Westcott, lived in a fourth floor walk up in Brooklyn. When she opened the door she appeared to have made an amazing recovery from her anguish over Ellie's demise. Her green eyes were bright with no hint of red, her auburn hair smartly styled, and her clothes wrinkle-free. "I'm so sorry about what happened to Miss Monroe," she told Beckett and Castle. "I don't know how I can help you, though."<p>

"Did you notice if she had a thermos with her?" Beckett asked.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't," Varla insisted. "She and Mr. Taylor were in one of our lover's suites. They have little curtained areas near the door where customers can put anything they don't need for their - meal." Castle and Kate fought to keep their faces impassive. "Anyway, if she put it in there, I wouldn't have seen it. She and Mr. Taylor ordered drinks and coffee to go with their food, so I don't know what she would have needed a thermos for."

"Did Miss Monroe look ill in any way?" Beckett asked.

"No," Varla replied with more vehemence that seemed necessary. "She looked fine."

"Well thank you for your time, Miss Westcott," Beckett said, handing her a card as she had to Marky Joiner. "Call me if you can think of anything that seemed at all unusual."

"I will," Varla agreed quickly.

"She's lying!" Castle and Beckett said, simultaneously as soon as the door closed securely behind them.

"She didn't look upset at all," Beckett observed, "except when she saw my badge. She was also way too insistent about Ellie not being sick. What tipped you?"

"The coffee," Castle replied, "Ellie didn't drink it. Maybe that's how she could stand that pee flavored tea. Also, did you see the wall of the apartment? There were framed theater posters and Playbills. I think being a server is just Varla's day job. She's an actress, or at least she wants to be one. She and Ellie might even have known each other."

"Well, Varla's Mr. Taylor is Murphy Taylor, he's a well known angel. Ellie probably thought that an in with him would be entré to any show he was financing. Let's see what he can tell us," Beckett suggested.

Murphy Taylor's office was chrome and glass except for a huge mahogany desk. He was not a handsome man, eyes impinging on an overlarge nose above tight narrow lips. However, he seemed quite welcoming, standing from behind his desk and extending a hand to Castle and Beckett. "What can I do for you, Detective?"

"Mr. Taylor, we understand that you had lunch with Ellie Monroe the day of her death. Is that correct?" Beckett began.

"I did," Taylor acknowledged. "Sweet girl. She tried to convince me I turned her on," he chuckled, "but she wasn't _that_ good an actress."

"Mr. Taylor," Beckett continued, "did she have a thermos with her?"

"Oh, yes," Taylor confirmed. "She didn't use it though. She tucked it into the little storage cubby at the entrance to the room. I don't think she even looked at it again until we left. No actually- after that," he remembered. "She forgot it and our server, I think her name was Varla, came running out with it. Earned herself a nice extra tip."

"Thank you," Mr. Taylor, "Beckett told him. "You've been very helpful."

"Always glad to oblige a beautiful woman," he responded. "You could be an actress yourself."

"Well thank you again, Mr. Taylor," Beckett answered as Castle cleared his throat, and hustled her out of the office.

"He was hitting on you!" Castle exclaimed, outside Taylor's office.

Kate flashed him a look of wide-eyed vacancy."Why Castle, don't you think I could be an actress?"

"Beckett, I saw you trying to act Mother's script when we were playing the seventies," Castle told her. "So no."

"Okay, so let's go get an actress," Beckett proposed. "Let's pick up Varla Westcott."


	4. Chapter 4

Ellie's last Act

Chapter 4

After obtaining a warrant to search Varla's apartment and her locker at the restaurant, Beckett sent uniformed officers to pick her up. Varla sat opposite Beckett and Castle in Interrogation, clutching and un-clutching the fabric of her skirt.

"You lied to us, Miss Westcott," Beckett declared without introduction. "You told us that you didn't see Ellie Monroe's thermos, when in fact you not only saw it, but gave it to her."

Varla was blinking rapidly and twisting one of the rings on her finger, but remained silent. "You know what I think?" Beckett continued, her voice gaining in intensity as she spoke. "You've known Ellie for years. You've gone on multiple auditions with her. You knew she couldn't have aspirin and you were jealous because she was acting while you were still delivering platters to make out rooms. So you took your opportunity, loaded her thermos with aspirin and gave it to her, knowing she'd bleed to death. Right now I have people searching your locker and your apartment for the bottle and when they find it, they'll match it to the aspirin in Ellie's thermos and you'll be put away for life!"

"No!" Varla shouted back. "Sure I knew Ellie, skenky little whore! The rest of us worked at our craft while she worked on her back. And yes, I gave her the thermos because I needed the extra tip money. But you know what you'll find in my locker and my apartment, nothing! My brother died of Reye's syndrome. Aspirin killed him. I don't go near it."

"So why did you lie?" Castle asked.

"I knew how it would look," Varla explained. "I knew Ellie, and I served her food the day she dropped dead. What would you do?"

"Why didn't you go to work today?" Beckett prodded.

"I was supposed to have an audition this afternoon," Varla replied bitterly. "You've screwed that up."

L.T. knocked on the door and handed Beckett a file. Beckett read it, lines forming on her forehead. She beckoned Castle to follow her out of the room while L.T. stood guard at the door. "Castle, they didn't find any aspirin," Beckett reported.

"She might have gotten rid of it," Castle proposed.

"Yeah," Beckett agreed. "I'll have the unis check the trash and dumpsters around the restaurant and her building, but she might be telling the truth. I'm gonna check out the story about her brother. "I'll have Ryan dig into her phone records too and see if she and Ellie spoke at all."

"What do you want me to do?" Castle asked.

"See what else you can dig up about Ellie's life. I know you have contacts in horror movies. Also you can go over whatever information Ryan and Espo got at the Dimmel Show. See if anything jumps out at you."

Beckett bent over her computer. Castle moved from his regular station beside her desk to the conference room where he could use his phone without disturbing her, and spread out the files he got from Ryan and Esposito. Beckett wandered in to join him about an hour later. "Castle," she informed him, "Varla was telling the truth about her brother. He did die of Reyes syndrome about ten years ago."

"I found out some things too," Castle related. "I talked to a couple of directors I know, who have worked with Ellie. They said she had gotten strange."

"Strange in what way?" Beckett asked.

"One day she'd be flying high and the next day the slightest criticism made her break down in tears," Castle told her. "They didn't want to hire her because they didn't know what Ellie they'd get."

"Did they think she was on drugs?" Beckett inquired.

Castle shook his head. "They didn't know what was going on but both of them told her she'd have to get some help if she wanted to work with them again. It's weird, she wasn't like that when I knew her at all."

"You didn't know her that long, Castle," Beckett pointed out. "Anything could have happened in her life. Did you find anything in Ryan and Espo's files?"

"I did," Castle confirmed. "One of the interns said she saw Ellie in the bathroom crying, and the make-up artist reported that she had to fix Ellie's make-up before she went on because it was streaked."

"Castle," Beckett suggested, "first thing in the morning, let's go over Ellie's phone records again, and look at her email or anything else we can find where she might have been talking to someone about a problem. Right now, let's go see Lanie."

* * *

><p>With a curve hugging dress, Lanie was clearly dressed for something other than an autopsy. "What's up girlfriend, writer man?" she called as Beckett and Castle came into her lab.<p>

"What's up with you?" Castle asked, appreciatively taking in her outfit. "You and Javier have plans tonight?"

"He's already late," Lanie griped, "but if he gets here, we're supposed to try out that new French restaurant that just opened up near here."

Castle nodded approvingly. "I've heard good things about that place. The coq au vin is supposed to be to die for."

"I think we have enough dying around here, Castle," Beckett put in. "Lanie did you find any drugs in Ellie Monroe's system, besides the aspirin?"

"Marijuana," Lanie answered, "a lot of it. But none of the hard stuff. Nothing that contributed to her cause of death."

"Was there anything that might have been used to treat mental illness?" Castle questioned.

"No," Lanie replied, "why?"

Castle reported what he had heard and read in the files. Lanie looked thoughtful. "There might have been something going on I didn't investigate," she mused, "since we already had a cause of death."

"Yo, Chica!" A voice echoed from the entry.

"Here's your wandering boy," Beckett observed. "Castle and I are knocking off too. Let me know if you find anything tomorrow."

"Will do," Lanie agreed.

"So," Castle asked as he and Kate headed for the car. "Mother is at the theater. Alexis has an all night study session. What's your pleasure this evening? French? Italian? Chinese? Morrocan? Or shall I cook you up a Castle special?"

"How about take out from Remy's, red wine, and curl up in front of the T.V.? As long as we watch something as far from Ellie Monroe's movies as we can get," Kate offered.

Kate leaned against Castle's chest on the couch, washing down the last of her burger with the a sip from her wine glass. On the screen, in stylized black and white, Marky Joiner's production of Hamlet played. As she watched the tale of murder and madness, Kate considered that it might not be as far from the case as she had thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Ellie's Last Act

Chapter 5

The alarm on Kate's phone buzzed before she was ready. Even within the security of Castle's arms, she had been tossing around, picturing Ellie Monroe with that madness of Ophelia. Certainly no one had ever considered sending Ellie to a nunnery. But had there been something else?

Castle murmured and shifted sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Six," Kate answered with a yawn.

"Kate, you don't have to be at the precinct until nine and Lanie won't even be at the lab yet," Castle complained. "Why so early?"

"I was thinking that I wanted to go back over everything, before we heard from Lanie," Kate explained. "But more and more I'm thinking that Lanie may have the missing piece."

"So you want to stay in bed for a while?" Castle asked hopefully, smoothing her hair back from her face.

Yeah," Kate agreed snuggling into the curve of his body and closing her eyes. "Um Castle," she whispered a few minutes later, "something tells me you're not sleepy anymore."

"What can I say?" Castle asked, pressing a kiss to her neck. "I'm stimulated by your presence."

Kate turned to him, slipping her fingers downward. "Should I stimulate you some more?"

"That," Castle replied, pulling her against him with a sudden jerk, "would be an excellent way to start the day."

Cupping the back of his head with her hand, Kate brought his lips to hers, banishing any thoughts of slumber.

"Mmmm, chocolate!" Castle exclaimed in surprise. "Were you sleep eating last night?"

"No," Kate confessed. "I got up for a while and I was thinking about the case and - you know, M&M's. They were leftover Halloween candy."

"Wait a minute," Castle objected. "Alexis told me there was no leftover Halloween candy."

"I think she's still doing her mother hen thing a little," Kate surmised. "She told me she didn't want you to make yourself sick, but she showed me where she put it."

"Oooh," Castle pondered, "I'm going to have to think of some suitable revenge."

"How about you just take another taste?" Kate suggested, running her fingertips over his lips.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that," Castle whispered huskily, bringing his mouth to Kate's.

Heat flowed through their bodies as Castle struggled struggle to bring the center of Kate's need against his own. There was too much in the way. Hands clashing in the rush, offending cotton and silk were pulled away and hurled aside. They needed more. As Castle's hands found the places screaming for his attention, Kate guided him where they both needed him to be. Bed covers slid to the floor and sheets tangled around them as the force built within, flowing from their joining outward to wash them in the glow of the final explosion.

"You know," Castle gasped. "I think from now on I may put M&M's under your pillow."

Kate cupped his cheek. "Only if you agree to taste them."

* * *

><p>Beckett and Castle rushed into the 12th Precinct. "No coffee?" Esposito asked in surprise at their empty hands.<p>

"We were running a little late this morning," Beckett explained, color rising in her cheeks.

Esposito regarded the grin Castle was trying unsuccessfully to suppress. "Okaaaay. He handed Beckett a file. "The financials came in on Ellie Monroe."

"Thanks Espo," Kate said, grateful to move on to business.

"Um, I'll get us a couple..." Castle told her, pointing toward the break room."

Kate nodded as she sat down and opened the file.

"Castle," she noted, as he returned, putting a mug in her hand. "There are some credit card charges here to a Kirk Folney, Ph.D.."

Castle pulled out his phone. "He's on Linkedin," Castle reported. "He's a psychologist. He has a practice in the Village."

"Mmm," Beckett nodded. "That fits in with what I've been thinking. He probably won't tell us much without a court order, but he might answer some general questions. If we need to, we can call Judge Markaway."

Dr. Folney's office was definitely not luxurious. The furniture showed signs of many occupants and the path between the waiting room and his office was well worn. It did offer a degree of comfort and Kate was tempted to slip her shoes off, as she had in Dr. Burke's office.

"Detective," Folney told Beckett, "I will confirm that Ellie Monroe did come to see me, since you obviously know anyway, but you must know that I can't discuss any details of her case."

"I understand, Doctor, but we have a number of witnesses to behavior on Ellie's part that was - not normal for her," Beckett offered. "Would you dispute those observations?"

"I really can't comment," Folney replied, rotating a pen in his fingers.

Castle tried another tack. "Dr. Folney, hypothetically, if a patient who was normally a happy person, came to you with mood swings and crying jags, what might you do?"

"Hypothetically, a number of things," Folney answered. "I'd look for abuse, traumatic experiences, even allergies can produce Jekyll and Hyde type behavior."

"Beckett continued with Castle's line of thought. "Would you perform any medical testing?"

Folney shook his head. I'm not a medical doctor, but if I suspected a medical problem, I might direct a patient to one. Many patients don't accept that suggestion however, and I certainly couldn't force the issue.

Beckett's phone buzzed, displaying a text from Lanie. Beckett stared at it for a moment and stood. "Thank you Doctor Folney, we won't take any more of your time."

"What?" Castle asked, as soon as they were out of the office.

"Lanie say she's got something big." Kate answered, hurrying to the car. "She wants us to meet her at the hospital."

Lanie greeted Castle and Beckett at the imaging department at Mercy General. "I didn't have the right equipment to do this," she explained, "so I had the body brought here. We ran a brain scan." Lanie indicated an image on a computer screen. Ellie had a left thalamic tumor, probably a glioblastoma multiforme."

"Do you think she knew?" Castle asked.

"We didn't find any evidence that she saw an oncologist or a neurologist, just the doctor who treated her blood clot." Beckett recalled.

"That's the thing," Lanie told them. "She might not have known. It could have presented itself as something that looked like post traumatic stress disorder or a personality disorder, without any physical symptoms. She might not have been accurately diagnosed for years.

"Wow," Beckett breathed. "Castle, let's go see your poker buddy. We need to go back to Folney with a court order and find out just what was going on."

"Beckett are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Castle asked.

Beckett nodded slowly. "Probably. We'll see after we talk to Folney again."


	6. Chapter 6

Ellie's last Act

Chapter 6

Upon learning that Beckett had a court order, Kirk Folney was cooperative and had Ellie Monroe's file ready when when Beckett and Castle arrived. Beckett perused the file in Folney's presence, with Castle, the faster reader, looking over her shoulder. "Beckett, do you see?" Castle asked.

Beckett nodded slowly. "Doctor Folney," she questioned, "you have a diagnosis here of PTSD. What do you believe led up to that?"

Folney drew a shaky breath. "Detective, I'm sure it's a story you've heard too many times. Ellie was having a," Folney's voice caught, "sexual encounter. Things got violent. She ended up in the hospital."

"Do you know if she reported it?" Castle asked.

Folney shook his head. "Apparently it was someone high up in the entertainment industry. Ellie was afraid no one would believe it wasn't consensual because she used sex …."

"To get jobs," Castle filled in.

"Yes," Folney continued. "Also, she was afraid of being blackballed if she spoke up. As it turned out, those fears may have been grounded. Another actress did bring charges against the person involved and according to Ellie, found herself working in fast food. Ellie had been making good progress. We both thought she had put the incident behind her, then her symptoms reappeared and nothing I did seemed to help."

"In your file you expressed fears that she might become suicidal," Beckett noted.

"That's right," Folney agreed. "And unfortunately it looks like I was correct. There's a letter in there that arrived yesterday afternoon."

Beckett pulled out a piece of paper with fold lines and tear stains where the ink had run. She read it out loud.

_Dear Doctor Folney,_

_I know you did your best. I want you to know I don't blame you. I blame myself. I've heard what people say about me. They call me a whore and I've come to believe they're right. What I did today made me certain. The way I've lived, the choices I've made, got me here. Now I have to find my own answer. For a while now, I've barely even been able to eat. Smoking pot has helped with that, but hasn't really solved anything and I know it won't. It just fools me into thinking I feel better for a while. But I don't feel better. Every day it just gets worse and worse._

_I know I can't live like this anymore, so I've come up with a plan. I want to leave this world, but I don't want to do it shut up in some room or on the street. I want to leave as I have always wanted to be - an actress, with everyone's eyes on me. So I'm going on television and if I take enough aspirin and time it right, I may even get to die on stage. I've never done that. It is a plum role for an actress and I hope it works out._

_I also would like to die close to someone I like and who I think might even like me. I'll be on Dimmel with Rick Castle tonight. I did with him as I have done with so many others. I slept with him to get a role and he actually recommended me for it. He also found out what I did, but was really nice about it. He was nicer to me than most men have been, especially when they found out they were used. So if I can make it happen, I want to be on stage with him when I die._

_It may not work out. With my luck, I may die slumped over a makeup table with my head in the bronzer or passed out in the green room. However it happens, you'll know that I tried to make a memorable exit. It may be the only memorable thing I've ever done._

_Thanks for trying,_

_Ellie_

Beckett reached for Castle's hand. He held her fingers tightly, as if she were a lifeline. Beckett cleared her throat to retain control. "Doctor Folney, I'll be taking this to the medical examiner who will probably change the cause of death from murder to suicide. There is something you should know, though. You didn't fail Ellie. There was a physical cause for her symptoms that with the traumatic cause for her PTSD, you would've had no reason to suspect. Our medical examiner even missed it first time around. I believe Ellie was right, thinking you did all you could."

"Thank you Detective," Folney replied, extending a hand. "I appreciate you telling me that. And thank you too, Mr. Castle. It looks like Ellie at least got her wish."

Castle and Beckett left Folney's office, hands again entwined. Beckett drove in silence to the morgue where she handed Lanie Ellie's letter. Lanie shook her head sadly. "What a waste. Surgery and radiation might have saved her. Well anyway, I'll change the paperwork. How're you doing, Castle?"

Castle shrugged. "I don't know."

Kate climbed into bed next to Castle who, his head supported on his arm, was staring at the ceiling. "You want to talk?" she asked.

Castle wrapped an arm around her, bringing her head to rest comfortingly on his chest. "It's just bizarre, you know, and usually I'm a fan of the bizarre - but not this. That she wanted to die with me because I was a little nice to her - and believe me Kate, it was no big deal, wow! It's not like women never slept with me because they wanted something. Some of them wanted to end up on Page Six and some of them wanted a lot more. You might even call that the definition of my first two marriages. Meredith, Gina, they both used me to further their careers. Face it, Gina's still profiting from it. Between the books and the graphic novels and now even trading cards, I'm Black Pawn's biggest cash cow and Gina is certainly riding that train. That's why you're so different. You never wanted the spotlight. You never wanted anything from me."

"Except your love and your body," Kate interjected.

"Both of which, it is my great pleasure to give," Castle continued. "But you give me inspiration, support; you stick a pin in me when I get too pretentious. You're my partner in every sense of the word."

Closing his eyes, Castle wrapped both arms around Kate, pulling her tightly against his body.

"Castle," Kate whispered, pressing her lips against his chest, "I love you too. But now I'd like to breathe."

Castle loosened his hold and laughed as a rising Kate moved in for a kiss.

Finis

A/N I am going to the C.A.S. Convention in L.A. and I'd love to meet any of you who might make it there. I've asked them to put CheerfulChemist on my badge. I hope they can do that. I'll be wearing a green Castle Writer shirt Saturday and I'm only 5' 1". I'm going to keep writing - in the airport, on the plane, in the hotel, wherever, so I still expect to post every morning, assuming I can get a Wi Fi signal. I will be spending most of Sunday night in O'Hare Airport, so that should be interesting. I have a thing or two in mind until I see Monday's episode and I can bring back Johanna's ghost. Love, Sally


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